Balloon toys



Jan. 26, 1960 A. VAN DAM ET AL BALLOON TOYS Filed May 16, 1958 FIG. 2

FIG.]

ATTO RN EYS United States Patent ce 2,922,252 BALLOON roYs' Albert Van Dam and Bernard E. Van Dam, New York, N.Y., assignors to The Van Dam Rubber Co., Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Application May 16, 1958, Serial No. 735,852

4 Claims. (Cl. 46-88) The present invention relates to toy balloons.

An object of the invention is the provision of a balloon toy of generally improved construction.

Another object is the provision in a balloon toy of improved means for mounting a plurality of balloons.

Another object is the provision of a toy balloon having a plurality of balloons which are readily inflatable or deflatable without the necessity of removing said balloons from their supporting stem.

A further object is the provision of a supporting stem for a toy balloon which is of simple and economical construction.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more fully understood from the following description considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the toy balloon accord ing to one embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken along line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 2: and

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing a modification of the toy balloon.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference characteristics denote corresponding parts, and particularly to Figures 1, 2 and 3, there is shown an improved balloon toy comprising a supporting stem 12 provided at the upper end thereof with a plurality of balloons 14 mounted thereon in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.

Supporting stem 12 comprises a hollow or tubular outer member 16 which may be formed of cardboard or other similar material. A hollow or tubular inner member 18 having an outer diameter substantially equal to the inner diameter of member 16, and which may also be formed of cardboard, is adapted to be inserted in the upper part of member 16. p

In order to mount the balloons 14 onto said supporting stem 12, the parts 20 of said balloons which are disposed at the end opposite the necks 22 thereof are inserted into the upper ends of outer member '16 adjacent the inner wall thereof. Hollow inner member 18 is now inserted in outer member 16 at the upper end thereof until the upper edges 24'and 26 of members 16 and 18, respectively, are substantially flush. The inner and outer members being resilient, they will grip parts 20 of the balloons and thus releasably secure the respective balloons between the tubular members. It will be apparent that a plurality of balloons may be so seeurably held between inner and outer tubes 18 and 20, respectively, and as shown, may be equally spaced around the circumference of the supporting member.

When the balloons 14 are so mounted, it will be readily apparent that the necks 22 of the balloons are freely accessible whereby said balloons can be inflated or deflated, as desired, without interfering in any manner what- Pa'tentedJan. 26, 198i) 2 soever with the mounting of said balloons on the supporting stem.

Figure 4 shows another embodiment of the toy balloon according to the invention, and comprises a hollow outer tubular member 16' similar to outer member 16. The balloons 14' are inserted into the upper end of member 16 in the same manner as described in connection with Fig. 3, and a solid plug 18 which may be formed of cork or other resilient material and having an outer diameter substantially equal to the inner diameter of member 16' is inserted into the upper end of member 16' thereby gripping parts 20' of the balloons and releasably securing the respective balloons between the plug 18' and the tubular member 16.

It is thus seen that the balloon toy according to the invention is extremely simple in construction so as to enable a child to readily assemble it with any number of balloons securely held between the outer and inner members, or disassemble it in order to add or remove any number of balloons. In addition to providing a convenient means for mounting a plurality of balloons, said outer and inner members also define a stick for holding said plurality of balloons in the inflated condition thereof. It will further be seen that due to the manner in which the respective balloons are securely mounted onto the stem, they can be inflated and deflated without the necessity of removing them from the stem.

While we have shown and described the preferred embodiments of our invention, it will be understood that various changes may be made in the present invention without departing from the underlying idea or principles of the invention within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A balloon toy comprising an outer tubular member defining a supporting stem, an inner member having an outside diameter substantially equal to the inside diameter of said outer tubular member, said inner member being inserted into said outer member at one end thereof, and a plurality of balloons having parts thereof releasably and seeurably held between said inner and outer members, said balloon parts being remote from the respective necks thereof whereby said balloons may be inflated or deflated without removal thereof from said supporting stem.

2. A balloon toy comprising an outer tubular member defining a supporting stem, an inner member having an outside diameter substantially equal to the inside diameter of said outer tubular member, said inner member being inserted into said outer member at one end thereof, and a plurality of balloons having parts thereof releasably and seeurably held between said inner and outer members, said inner member being tubular and said inner and outer member each being resilient, said balloon parts being remote from the respective necks thereof whereby said balloons may be inflated or deflated without removal thereof from said supporting stem.

3. A balloon toy comprising an outer tubular member defining a supporting stem, an inner member having an outside diameter substantially equal to the inside diameter of said outer tubular member, said inner member being inserted into said outer member at one end thereof, and a plurality of balloons having parts thereof releasably and seeurably held between said inner and outer members, said inner member comprising a solid cylindrical plug and said inner and outer member each being resilient, said balloon parts being remote from the respective necks thereof whereby said balloons may be inflated or deflated without removal thereof from said supporting stem.

4. A balloon toy comprising an outer tubular memdefining a supporting stem, an inner member having an outside diameter substantially equal to the inside diameter of said outer tubular member, said inner member being inserted into said outer member at one end thereof, and at least one balloon having a part thereof releas ably and securably held between said inner and outer members, said balloon part being remote from the neck thereof whereby it may be inflated or deflated without removal thereof from said releasable securement on said stem.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Matsuro Mar. 25, 1924 Raab May 22, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Ian. 3, 1951 Australia June 21, 1951 

